Have you heard of Hobby Lobby?

At my sister-in-law's urging, I made my first trip to Hobby Lobby. OH, MY GOSH!!! I think I have found my Mecca. I could have spent thousands of dollars in there-- the furniture, the baskets, fabric, BEADS, wood crafts, paint, awesome decor. Wow. I mean, WOW.

I managed to escape having spent only $36 on two boxes that look like over sized books (I'm planning to use them as my new jewelry box, since mine was commandeered by a four-year-old), a pretty hook that is going to display my new aprons (which I had planned to post about before all h@!! broke loose around here) and a model car that Ethan picked out. It's his "I'm going to be good for surgery" prize a day early. I found a beautiful $60 platter that I wished I could have bought for my mom. I found a trunk with fake belt straps that I want to use as a coffee table (I mean Pepsi table, since I don't drink coffee). I found a whole bunch of baskets that I liked. I've also been looking for cute banks for my kids to put change in (the Mason jars are getting old), and yes, they have those, too. They were so cute-- basketballs, footballs, pigs in tutus. I'm serious, I could have spent hundreds of dollars in five minutes flat.

I may never go to Michael's again! So, if I suddenly go missing in town, look for me at Hobby Lobby.

Off to Surgery

We saw the plastic surgeon today, and I felt very good about the visit. He opened a spot for Ethan at the outpatient surgical facility, and we are scheduled to be there tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. It should take a few hours, but we'll be home tomorrow evening, and I'm grateful that Ethan doesn't have to stay overnight. My friend Michelle is keeping the girls, and I'm having Dylan ride the bus home with a friend after school, so I think I now have all my bases covered. Nathan will be able to come up to the hospital, and I'm very grateful for that, even though he'll have to head back to work after Ethan's out of surgery.

Thank you all for your words of love and kindness. I really appreciate it. Ethan was a little worried about the surgery. Mostly he didn't want them to put another needle in his lip. Now that he knows he gets to sleep through the whole thing, he's fine.

On top of everything else, I think I sprained my wrist. SO stupid! I was moving a box of Boy Scout popcorn and twisted it funny. I iced it yesterday, but typing is making it hurt, so I'm going to sign off. Luckily, it's my right hand, so I can still write the old fashioned way.

Update on Ethan

Today I took Ethan back to the doctor. The stitches are healing fine and the swelling is going down, but as the doctor looked at the lines, he said he wasn't convinced that he had gotten the lip lined up right when he stitched it. He said he could numb it and try to fix it, or I could consult a plastic surgeon. I said I'd rather consult with a plastic surgeon-- for two reasons. First, I want it done right, and second, I want it done under general anesthesia, so Ethan doesn't have to go through the pain of more Novocain shots. Dr. Walker totally agreed and called to consult with a plastic surgeon. I have to take Ethan in tomorrow at nine for a quick consultation appointment, and he will probably schedule him for surgery on Thursday. The surgeon said with a kid this young, you might as well get it all fixed right before it's done healing.

As far as I'm concerned, I just want it done right. I want him to look as normal as possible. His smile may never be exactly like it was, but then again, it might, so I'm willing to do whatever it takes.

Another blessing of having the surgery this Thursday is that Nathan will probably be able to get someone to cover for him at work, so he can come to the hospital. The hospital is halfway in between us-- an hour from me, and an hour and a half from where Nathan works.

I went into the school today and let them know that Ethan won't be in the rest of the week. I really love our school. All of the staff have been so loving and supportive of Ethan, even teachers he's never had. I feel privileged to live in a town where people really care about each other.

ER Visit **Warning: Graphic Photos**

I've been thinking a lot lately about how our lives can turn on a dime. You can be floating smoothly, and then in a moment, everything changes. We had a moment like that yesterday.

Ethan's friend is moving-- to Washington, actually. I had a few boxes that I wanted to drop by their house to help them out. It was just a small act of kindness for a family that is leaving. As I pulled into the driveway, they were leaving somewhere. I told the dad that I had a few boxes for them. As I went around to the trunk, Ethan got out of the car. He wanted to say hi to his friend. He was standing there petting the dog and all of the sudden the dog growled. Ethan screamed and was on the ground. When I got to him, he was holding his mouth. When we pulled his hand away, my heart just dropped. It looked like the dog had bit off half Ethan's lip. I was sure we'd have to take him to the next town to see a plastic surgeon, but when the doctor got there, he said that the tissue was all still there, it had just broken open. He said he could stitch it back up. If the scar is too big later, we can see a plastic surgeon. So, Nathan stayed with him while he got stitches. It still looks pretty gory, but this is how it looks today. The stitches are black, so the lines are dark and that looks bad. Our biggest concern is that the pink part of his lip may not line up after it heals. The doctor didn't do stitches on the lip itself because he said that tissue heals so well, he thought it best to let it heal on its own.

This was such a terrifying experience. I've been counting my blessings because I know that it could have been so much worse. Ethan has been a trooper about the whole thing. My main concern was that he would look disfigured, but even if it scars, he should look normal. Right now he can't smile, so we're not sure what his smile will look like after the stitches come out. One thing is sure, he's got a heck of a story to tell.

And I wanted to mention one thing about the pictures. When Earlgirl's boy split his head open to the skull, I showed Nathan the post. He said, "If our kid is in the ER and you stand there taking pictures to post on your blog, I'm going to smack you." (He always talks tough.) So, we're in the ER and I asked Ethan if he wanted to see how bad it looked, and he said no. I told him I'd take a picture on my phone so that after he was all fixed up, he could see what it looked like before. That's what I did. One picture. So, I get home and Nathan is talking to his dad on the phone and sends him the picture HE took with his phone-- there are like five of them.

I was too shaken up to tease him about it. I could have cried all night, but when Ethan fell asleep I finally started to wind down. I've been carrying a knot in my chest all day. It isn't sorrow; it's an overwhelming love I have for my kids, and even a small tragedy like this makes you realize how much you love them-- how hard it is to see them suffer.

Ethan said, "It's too bad this didn't happen before Halloween. I could have been a pirate and said I'd had my lip eaten off by a shark!" The nurse couldn't believe what a stoic he was in the ER. After the initial scream, he didn't cry at all on the way to the hospital or during the stitches. Even the sheriff deputy (yes, they had to call the sheriff) said how tough he was about the whole thing.

As far as the dog is concerned, I'm not concerned. The family was so upset about it, they were ready to put him down last night, but the sheriff recommended they wait until after the 10-day quarantine period. This family has four little kids, and they are moving out of state. The dad asked me if I wanted them to kill the dog. I said it was totally his call because he's the one whose kids are going to be around the dog, not mine. I really don't blame them at all. It was such the freak thing. The dog is a lab, and totally gentle. Sometimes there just is no reason why.

Applause, please!

I'm posting to announce that Kelly won the 100th post snowflake ornaments. I just got off the phone with my sister, who gave me your address, Kelly, so you don't have to send it to me. (Kind of handy that I'm related to your best friend.) Anyway, Nathan is home, no one is napping, and I don't have time to write more. Until later......

One of the Loves of my Life

Megan left a comment about my car. Yes, it seems she and I drive twin cars. I love mine, but you really need to know the story behind it.

We used to have a crew cab pick-up. Nathan bought it when we first started remodelling the house. He was careful to buy one with a bench seat, so that if we had a fourth child, we would have room. It was back when all the dealers were doing employee pricing, so we bought a new one because we got a great deal on it. We drove it off the lot with eight miles on the odometer back in 2005.

We really needed the truck back then. We were remodeling the house and put a LOT of miles on it running to town to pick up forgotten parts and such. Plus, we used to drive to Washington about four times a year, so it worked out well for that, too.

In 2007, we had Josie and suddenly we were very crowded in that pick-up. Still, Nathan wanted another truck. He had his eye on a Ford F350 here in town, but I kept trying to talk him out of it. We already had a truck. It wasn't his favorite, but it was fine. We didn't need a new one. He resisted.

Then in April of this year our niece was getting baptized, and we went down to the baptism. Nathan made one huge mistake right off the bat-- he didn't strategically place the kids in the truck. They fought the whole way to his sister's house. It was only two and a half hours, but when we got there, Nathan looked at me and said, "We are NEVER travelling in this truck again." I just nodded and hopped out, but inside I was smiling. It was his truck. Try getting a farm boy to give up his pick up. Well, that did it.

The following Monday, he went to town alone and called me about three hours later to give me the options. A maroon Expedition with leather seats for X amount of money or an all black one for Y. I said X sounded like a better deal, but I didn't really care. (Since Nathan has the job I didn't cosign on any of the papers. He picks out the car, and I drive it. I hate shopping for cars.) A few hours later he came home with this:

It's the Eddie Bauer edition, and has more options than I know how to use. Once were were on our way somewhere and Nathan said, "My seat is hot. Does this have heated seats?" Who knows? Not us. We turned down the heater to see if that helped. Our car does have a story. The dealer we bought it from gave it to his university alma mater as their recruiting vehicle, so the miles on it are from their recruiting trips. I had to tell my mom that because her boss has the same alma mater. And, no, it's not WAZZU, even thought it's cougar maroon.

At first I wasn't sure if I liked the two-tone leather on the seats. (It's light and dark.) But, it's grown on me, so now I like that, too. This summer when we went on our very long trip to Utah, I loved being able to separate the kids and have moments of silence on the trip. The best bonus is that my luggage doesn't get wet in the back!

Today is your last chance to leave a comment on the 100th post. I'm going to draw the winner for the give away tomorrow.

100th Post!!!

Though I'm fairly new to this blogging thing, I've racked up 100 posts in no time, and I understand that it's tradition to share 100 things about yourself on your hundredth post.

100 Things About Me

1. I am happily married, which I think is the biggest blessing in my life.
2. I love summer more than any other time of year.

3. I grew up in Eastern Washington. (Yes, Eastern with a capital E-- so very different from Seattle.)

4. My favorite month is May. It’s such a cheerful month, and it’s when I was born. Besides, how can you not love May if you’ve seen the musical version of Camelot? (It’s May; it’s May, the lusty month of May…)
5. My shoe size is now a full size larger than before I had children.
6. My favorite movies are romances—Sabrina (the Julia Ormond-Harrison Ford version) and Pride & Prejudice. Gweneth Paltrow’s Emma is right up there because I love Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightly.
7. I don’t like many old movies, and there are several that I still haven’t seen. Dare I admit that I’ve never seen all of Mary Poppins? It’s true. Ditto for the Sound of Music.
8. I used to have most of Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet memorized, because I taught each of them five times a day. When you hear the text a lot, it just sticks.
9. I love all crafts.
10. I like beading.
11. I like toll painting.
12. I like quilting.
13. And embroidery.
14. Scrapbooking
15. Card Making
16. Stamping, too
17. I have written over 1500 pages of unpublished fiction.
18. I’m still writing.
19. When I started writing, my biggest fear was that I would finish the first novel and never have another idea. The opposite has happened. I have too many stories in my head and no time to write them.
20. My favorite shirt is orange.
21. I have honestly never seen a man that I thought was better looking than my husband (movie stars included). Actually, I think most of my sister-in-laws feel this way. We married into a family of gorgeous brothers (and sisters).
22. I love to eat cinnamon rolls, but only if I bake them myself.
23. I cannot trust myself with cinnamon rolls, so I don’t bake them very often.
24. I love cheesecake.
25. I like Pepsi more than chocolate.
26. I like Doritos more than chocolate, too.
27. Gingersnaps are my favorite cookies, with chocolate chip running second.
28. I like chocolate chip cookie dough much more than the baked cookies.
29. I let my kids eat raw cookie dough.
30. I tend not to reread books unless I’m teaching them. I think this is because there are so many books out there that I feel like I should keep plowing through them.
31. No matter how many books I’ve read, I feel like I’ve never read enough to be “well-read.”
32. I still love horses.
33. I prefer cats to dogs, although cats make me sneeze.
34. We don’t have a pet because I don’t want one in my house.
35. I hate all floral scented products. Anything I buy that is scented has to be citrus or spice fragranced.
36. I will only wear one perfume—Christian Dior’s Poison.
37. My first bottle of the aforementioned perfume was given to me by my high school boyfriend. I have been wearing it ever since. (What can I say? The guy had good taste, as I’m sure this girl will agree.)
38. Roses and carnations are my favorite flowers.
39. I love driving an SUV, and I won’t give it up for a minivan.
40. My favorite shoes are leather Mary Janes.
41. I’m not choosy about music and basically listen to whatever Nathan has a whim to buy.
42. I loved cheerleading more than any other sport or activity I’ve encountered since.
43. I coached cheerleaders for three years and loved that, too.
44. I still love Pasco purple.
45. I wear mostly earth tones. One of my friends who sells make-up says I’m her only client who wears the “warm” line.
46. If I could live anywhere, I’d live on 1000 acres somewhere with a long growing season. Nathan would be happy as long as I bought him a big tractor. And, Ethan would be happy as long as he got his own four-wheeler.
47. I believed I would be the mother of all boys.
48. I moped for a week when I found out Mazie was a girl. After she was born, I didn’t know how I had survived without a daughter.
49. I wished and prayed that our fourth would be a girl, and she was.
50. I have lived in four different states during my married life.
51. I have never traveled east of Montana and Wyoming.
52. Canada is the only “foreign” country I’ve ever visited.
53. I’ve never had a passport.
54. I love office supplies, and I have an irrationally large stash of pens, tablets and journals.
55. I cannot live without a planner.
56. I am much less contentious now than I was as a young adult. I’ve learned to be a peacemaker from my husband.
57. I still talk too much.
58. I get depressed easily, especially when Nathan isn’t around.
59. If I didn’t have to take my kids to school, I could easily become a hermit. I would do crafts all day long and never get bored.
60. Nearly all of my clothes are from Eddie Bauer and Old Navy. (Eddie Bauer because they are always true-to-size, and Old Navy because they’re cheap.)
61. I’m embarrassed to go to my high school reunions because I was voted most likely to succeed. I feel privileged to stay at home with my kids, but I know people expected me to do other things.
62. I’ve never regretted getting married young—not one single day.
63. I have only one blood sibling—my sister, and we’re married to brothers. It is SO wonderful because our husbands get along perfectly and like spending time with each other. (If we were closer, we’d spend a lot more time together.)
64. I wish I was fluent in another language.
65. I would love to be a college professor.
66. I’ve been to Disneyland twice.
67. I’ve had three near-death experiences.
68. I was held hostage in my classroom by a teen gunman, so I’ve been officially “kidnapped.”
69. I’m very calm and level-headed in crisis situations.
70. I’m prone to headaches and keep a stock of Excedrin in my house.
71. I hate going barefoot.
72. I don’t like flip flops. (I only wear them to the pool.)
73. I hardly ever wear nylons and heels anymore (due to my eternal Primary calling).
74. My best friend is my sister.
75. I have sister-in-laws that I relate to so well, I consider them my own sisters.
76. My closest “local” friend is also named Michelle. People call us “the Michelles”.
77. I’m allergic to red food coloring. It won’t kill me; it just gives me one mother of a headache.
78. Before I had kids I was a morning person, but now I stay up late just so I can enjoy the quiet.
79. I talk to myself. A lot. I always have.
80. I’m an audio learner, which means if I hear the lecture I can remember the content better than if I read the textbook. (That’s why I always messed up the grading curve for everyone else.)
81. I hate, hate, hate being pregnant. I would have more kids, but I don’t think I can handle being pregnant again.
82. I tend to get along better with men than with women. This was true in my single years and in my career. Most of my close friends in high school were guys—tharker’s married to one of them, Amy to another, and I so, so wish Rob would start a blog.
83. One of my high school flings is now a bishop.
84. When the weather gets cold, it makes me feel like baking. I bake more in the fall than any other time of year.
85. I’m annoyed that all holidays have turned into candy holidays. Does this bother anyone else? Now there’s Halloween candy, then Christmas candy, then Valentine’s candy, then Easter, parade candy from summer and Homecomeing…. I hate playing candy police. One year we got so much candy from Halloween, that I put it into a flat rate box and sent it to soldiers in Iraq. (They give it to kids on the streets.)
86. I am a volunteer for Books for Soldiers, and I think they are a wonderful organization. I haven’t sent much this past year, but my goal is to send some packages next month for the holiday season. (You can find them at http://www.booksforsoldiers.com/)
87. Before I moved to my current branch, I had never served in Primary. Now I’m afraid they’ll never let me out!
88. I don’t like to exercise.
89. Thanks to Josie, I now weigh fifteen pounds more than I did in high school. This bugs me more than you can imagine.
90. I’m not good at dieting, so it’s been hard to take off.
91. This weight fluctuation is one reason I hate pregnancy so much. It’s murder on my self esteem.
92. My birthstone is emerald.
93. Emerald green is also my favorite color.
94. My mom and I sound almost exactly alike on the phone.
95. Only one of my kids has my brown eyes.
96. I talk to my sister and my mom on the phone almost everyday.
97. My sister and I have never lived in the same town since I got married.
98. I used to live right next door to my in-laws. When we left Washington, I missed my mother-in-law as much as my own mom and sister.
99. I’ve lost track of my college roommate from Washington State University, and I’d really like to find her.
100. If I could vacation anywhere, I would go to Venice, Italy. I have always wanted to see Venice.

Whew!!! I did it! I wasn’t sure I could. Feel free to ask questions in the comment form, and I’ll address them in a future post.

Happy 100th, dear blog. You’ve been a great outlet for me.

Of course, no celebration would be complete without a give-away. Up for grabs this time is a pair of beaded snowflake ornaments for your Christmas tree. Sorry, but they don't have hooks because those are still packed with my decorations. Just leave a comment to be entered in the give-away. Friends, relatives and lurkers welcome!